As I walked into the Admissions office on a random Wednesday afternoon, I was greeted with a warm welcoming smile by enrollment counselor Caroline Clements. Clements asked if I was meeting with someone. When I replied yes, she told me to make myself comfortable as I waited.
A few seconds went by and she began telling me about how her landlord had texted her about rent going up. In the middle of the conversation, Clements stopped, laughed and said “You probably don’t care.” But, I did not mind because she made it feel like we were old friends, despite only being there a few minutes.
She never had to tell me to make myself comfortable because when you walk into the Admissions office, you already are.
Just a few moments later, I was invited into a private room in the back of the office, where a couch and a couple of comfy chairs were placed around one other. As I started to have a conversation with three seniors, I asked how they got involved with Admissions, since they are in their third and final year of working in this office.
Mary Helen English, a senior public relations major, who holds the role as Fran Thomas’ student worker, said, “I always looked up to the people that were in this office. The people that are in this office are people that I wanted to become similar to.”
I quickly realized that relationships play a huge role in the Admissions office. Not only inside the office but also when they are out on campus as a student, out giving tours or out attending other events.
“I love this job for two reasons,” Timothy Fletcher, a senior marketing major and student ambassador, said, “One is you literally get paid to be an extrovert, which is something I enjoy doing. And second is the people in the office, a lot of them are also very friendly people, very hospitable. It’s a good community to be plugged into, and it’s doing something I really enjoy.”
Their role as student ambassadors is extremely vital to Union at large. These ambassadors are one of the first impressions of the Union community. When new students are on campus, their main goal is to help them feel welcomed.
“The job that we are in is when they step on campus, it’s totally our opportunity to give them one of the best days of their life and just make an impact on them,” English said.
Yet, the job does not stop when they leave campus.
“I remember how impactful that was for me as a senior in high school with everything else going on, having someone that was intentionally reaching out. I wanted to be able to do that for someone,” Hannah Grothe, senior business administration major, said. Grothe is now a Student Enrollment Counselor herself, working for Colby Benefield.
Although working in Admissions is important to Union as a whole, it also has impactful relationships inside the four walls of the office.
Working inside the Admissions office becomes like a second home, or as Fletcher would say, “It’s almost like my second Barefoots.” These students do not just come in here for work, but they come in to do homework or simply visit. Sometimes, they even come back to work full-time.
As we wrapped up our interview, I could tell that this role meant something special to each one of them. It was not just a job. It did not just provide money that got them through college. It prepared them for the next phase of life.
“I just think this is one of the best jobs that anyone could have in college,” English said. “Because it teaches you so much more besides spitting out information to a family, you know how to adapt based on if they ask questions, you have to be able to problem-solve. Above all else, we have worked and learned how to best work well with others and do it at a high level and with strangers that become friends within the hour.”
Photo by Laila Al-Hagal